If you call or drop in, you'll speak with Francois or Megan.
Francois had the commute we all dream about. He rode the Dragon for many years, twice a day. He has literally ridden The Dragon a few thousand times. What for some is known as "318 turns in 11 Miles" is actually over half a million turns to him. He used to manage Sport Touring Accessories at the Deal's Gap Motorcycle Resort. While it was a great place to work, the remote location made for problems with internet connections, parcel delivery and even telephone service.
Realizing that these limitations weren't conducive to expanding a business, he quit and started up Dual Sport Touring in Friendsville, TN. With 5 times the physical space, high speed internet, and UPS pickup multiple times a day, it would be an understatement to say that he is much happier here and can better serve his customers.
Francois
holds
the title of "Guy in Charge". He's been riding for over 30 years, and
has ridden in everything from snow storms to hurricanes, from desert to
flooded roads. Every now and then Francois will take off for a
"little trip", like riding from East TN to CO to ride around for a
couple of days with his friend Ralph, then ride back home. This partly
explains why his 2007 BMW GS Adventure has over 62,000 miles on it, and his DR650
has over 40,000. He owns a car, which will be a surprise to most people
who know him, but for the most part uses a bike as his primary
transportation.
Megan has a part time job somewhere else and works here part time, which means she actually doesn't have any free time. This has earned her the title of "Runs with Scissors". A motorcyclist for 21 years, she raced in WERA Southeast region for a few years, running a Yamaha Seca 600 in Vintage 7, Clubman, D SuperStock and D Superbike classes, then ran a Suzuki SV650 in Lightweight Twins, D Superstock and D Superbike. For several years Megan's sole transportation was a Honda CBR929. She can speak with authority about carrying a cat to the vet on a sportbike.
For
several years Megan worked at BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta where she
earned certification as a BMW Apparel Specialist and BMW Parts Manager,
two skills we truly appreciate here at Dual Sport
Touring. Megan met Francois while he was still at Deal's Gap, and
then one day they met for lunch at Two Wheels Only, a very long lunch
which turned into dinner
and they discovered they both wanted the same things out of life. A
short while later Francois offered her instant poverty and a cottage in
the mountains. They got married in March of 2008, at a local motorcycle
hangout called the Time Warp Tea Room. Both the bride and groom, as
well as many of the guests, rode to the wedding on their bikes.
So you see, we actually ride. We aren't people who just work in a bike shop because it's a job. We do this because it's a passion for us. We love to ride, and we know about the products we carry. We didn't just pick them out of a catalog. We use the stuff we sell. We've tested it, tried it, sometimes even evaluated it and helped develop it with the manufacturers. In the summer of 2007 Francois, Megan and two friends rode their bikes from the Canadian border to Albuquerque, off road, following the Continental Divide Trail. They turned left at Albuquerque and rode cross the country back to east Tennessee. 3 weeks, and 4500 miles after leaving, we got back home tired, worn out, extremely happy, and yearning to go ride again. Later trips include Francois' "No Officer I Wasn't Speeding" round trip to Dallas and Megan's Podunkin' trip to dualsport in Utah and Colorado on her F650 Dakar.
In other words, we're nuts just like you.
Here's Francois and Megan at Buzzard's Roost, NC. I-40 is waaaaayyyy down there below us.
Francois hums, 'I fought the mud and the mud won...' | Megan poops out after a tough hillclimb in NM... |